Hummus

The chickpeas are peeled, which is the only thing that makes it genuinely smooth.

Vegan.

Ingredients

the chickpeas

• 250 g dried chickpeas, soaked 18 hours
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 2 litres water

the rest

• 180 g tahini, well stirred
• juice of 2 lemons
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste with salt
• 4 tablespoons iced water, roughly
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt

to serve

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• a few whole chickpeas
• a handful of parsley, chopped

Method

1. THE CHICKPEAS ARE PEELED, WHICH IS THE ONLY THING THAT MAKES IT GENUINELY SMOOTH. Every skin, and there are several hundred. A chickpea skin is cellulose and will not break down in a processor however long it runs -- it shears into tiny flecks that give the slightly grainy, slightly gritty texture that separates ordinary hummus from the kind served in a good place. Overcooking them with bicarbonate loosens most of the skins so they float and can be poured off, and the stragglers are rubbed off between the palms under water. It takes ten minutes and it is the difference the whole dish turns on.
2. THE CHICKPEAS ARE DELIBERATELY OVERCOOKED. Past tender, to the point where one squashes to nothing between finger and thumb -- an hour and a half or more with bicarbonate. Firm chickpeas cannot be made smooth by blending; they just become smaller pieces of firm chickpea.
3. THE BICARBONATE DOES TWO JOBS AND NO SALT GOES IN. A teaspoon in the cooking water: it raises the pH, which breaks down the pectin so they collapse, and it loosens the skins. Salt firms the skins and works directly against both.
4. THEY GO INTO THE PROCESSOR WARM. Straight from the pan, drained but still hot. Warm chickpeas emulsify with the tahini into something fluffy; cold ones give a stiff paste that has to be thinned with more water and tastes flatter.
5. ICED WATER IS WHAT MAKES IT PALE AND FLUFFY. Four tablespoons, added a spoonful at a time while the processor runs, after the tahini. The cold water aerates the emulsion and visibly lightens the colour -- it goes from beige to almost white. More tahini or more oil makes it richer and heavier; iced water makes it lighter, which is the thing wanted.
6. IT IS RUN FOR FAR LONGER THAN SEEMS NECESSARY. Four or five minutes of continuous processing after everything is in, scraping down twice. The texture keeps improving well past the point where it looks done.
7. IT IS SERVED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE WITH A WELL OF OIL. Spread in a shallow bowl, the back of a spoon turned in it to make a channel, oil pooled in that. Fridge-cold, the tahini sets firm and the flavour closes up.
8. The chickpeas soaked 18 HOURS, drained and rinsed.
9. Simmered in the water with the bicarbonate and NO SALT, 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES, until one squashes to NOTHING between finger and thumb.
10. The loosened SKINS skimmed off as they float, and the chickpeas then RUBBED BETWEEN THE PALMS under water to remove the rest. Every skin.
11. A few whole ones kept back for the top.
12. The WARM drained chickpeas processed with the tahini, lemon juice, garlic paste, cumin and salt.
13. The ICED WATER added A SPOONFUL AT A TIME while it runs.
14. Run 4 to 5 MINUTES, scraping down twice, until it is pale and fluffy.
15. TESTED: rubbed on the roof of the mouth it should be completely smooth with no grain. Any grittiness is skins.
16. Spread in a shallow bowl with a well of oil, paprika, the whole chickpeas and parsley. Served at ROOM temperature.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Egypt · All recipes